"R.E.T.R.O"

CD

Spring 1982: American computer company Commodore releases the first - now legendary - really potent home computer: The C64. This device opened a whole new world for home computer users and it became the world's most popular and successful home computer in the 80s. The reason was not only a separate cutting edge graphic accelerator that enabled high resolution gaming, but also the unique SID sound chip which was equipped with modern sound effect generators and the capability of a three track polyphonic playback.

This unique sound kept ringing ...

This unique sound kept ringing in the memory of Austrian Stefan Poiss, founder and singer of Mind.In.A.Box. He was intrigued by the catchiness and the different sound-design of early computer game classics and by the age of 12 he started his first steps to compose music on its own on the C64, and even wrote his own sequencer music software for the Commodore to put tracks together himself with more ease.

Fast forward to 2009: Mind.In.A.Box just finished their successful album trilogy "Lost Alone", in which they redefined electronic music sound design themselves. Now they presents their own sound design roots with "R.E.T.R.O.", an homage to the days when they sat in front of their C64, baffled by the amazing sounds that came out of it. They cover computer game classics like "Lightforce" or "The Last V8" the Mind.In.A.Box way, and mix them with their own songs that came together when reminiscing about that era: Compositions like the incredibly catchy "Bit" meets the symphonic "Whatever Mattered", and deliver an album that holds a neat balance between experiments and the much appreciated quality and identity of what Mind.In.A.Box is known for so far. But most important is, that they manage to combine their own sound design with the fascination of the 80ies videogame soundtrack era.

The CD's booklet holds explanations on what fascinated m.i.a.b. about the C64 video game aesthetics, and how it transformed them into electronic music software creators themselves. As such it also holds interesting insights into what makes Mind.In.A.Box special as an electronic band and why their sound developed the way it did. As an additional goodie, the booklet holds a code for additional bonus tracks to download from the band's website.